Oxygen systems and on-board oxygen generation systems (hereinafter “oxygen systems”) are in widespread use for providing oxygen and oxygen enriched breathing gas (hereinafter “breathing gas”), respectively, to occupants of the aircraft. Sufficient breathing gas must be provided to the occupants (also referred to herein as “users” of the disclosed systems and methods) such that the occupants to not develop hypoxia—a condition where the body is deprived of adequate oxygen. The oxygen level of a person may be determined by measuring the level of oxygen in the blood of that person. This is also known as the blood oxygen saturation.
Competing with the need to provide occupants with sufficient breathing gas is the need to efficiently utilize the available space and lift capabilities of the aircraft. For this reason, the supply of oxygen (or oxygen precursors) loaded onto the aircraft may be limited to the amount projected as necessary. Similarly, it is important to make efficient use of the available breathing gas-supplying capabilities of the oxygen system(s) by not over supplying breathing gas to the user of that system (also referred to herein as an oxygen system). For this reason, oxygen systems have previously been provided to provide a quantity of breathing gas to the user(s) according to the altitude of the aircraft. As the altitude increases, so does the demand for supplemental breathing gas. In this way, the use of breathing gas is more efficient, especially at lower altitudes. However, there remains the need to drive further efficiencies from the oxygen systems.